[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 139 (Friday, July 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47158-47160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15485]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-7075-N-07]


60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Evaluation of 
the Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion Asset Building Cohort, OMB Control 
No.: 2528-NEW

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment 
from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. 
The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: September 19, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection can be submitted within 60 days of publication 
of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this 
particular information collection by selecting, ``Currently under 60-
day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 
Interested persons are also invited to submit comments regarding this 
proposal by name and/or

[[Page 47159]]

OMB Control Number and can be sent to: Anna Guido, Reports Management 
Officer, REE, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW, Room 8210, Washington, DC 20410-5000 or email at 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anna Guido, Reports Management 
Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20410; email Anna Guido at [email protected], 
telephone 202-402-5535 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes 
and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard 
of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication 
disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone 
call, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs. Copies of available documents 
submitted to OMB may be obtained from Ms. Guido.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD is 
seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in 
Section A.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Evaluation of the Moving to Work 
(MTW) Expansion Asset Building Cohort.
    OMB Approval Number: 2528-New.
    Type of Request: New Collection.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The 
purpose of this proposed information collection is to evaluate the 
Moving to Work Expansion Asset Building Cohort (hereinafter ``Asset 
Building Cohort''). This 60-day Notice informs the public of intent to 
collect data about the asset building programs implemented by the PHAs 
in the Asset Building Cohort and about the HUD-assisted residents 
selected to participate in the asset building programs.
    HUD selected 18 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to participate in 
the Asset Building Cohort. Six of these PHAs have signaled intent to 
implement an opt-out savings program, 5 intend to pilot rent reporting 
for credit building, and 7 have designed custom asset building 
programs. The savings account and rent reporting programs are described 
in PIH Notice 2022-11. For the savings account program, PHAs will 
contribute at least $10 per month for 24 months to at least 25 
residents to support buildup of emergency savings. For the rent 
reporting program, PHAs will report on-time rent payments made by 
participating public housing residents to credit agencies so that the 
residents' credit reports will gain a tradeline (rental tradeline). The 
added rental tradeline may increase residents' credit visibility and 
credit scores. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) 
will evaluate the impacts of these asset building programs. The 
evaluation requires data from several sources, including the new 
information collection described in this Notice.
    The first phase of the evaluation of the Asset Building Cohort is 
guided by a few overarching questions: (1) What programs are PHAs 
implementing? What are the characteristics of the group of residents 
participating in the programs? (2) How do participants understand the 
programs? And what do the programs mean for them personally? The 
programs will run for two years. The first phase of the evaluation will 
collect data from the following samples:
    (1) PHA staff (n = 54), staff of partner organizations (n = 18), 
and PHA residents (n = 32)
    (2) Residents that volunteered for the rent reporting for credit 
building pilot program, including households that were randomly 
assigned to have their rent payments reported to credit agencies and 
households that were assigned to a control group (who don't have their 
rent payments reported to credit agencies) (n = 300)
    (3) Residents that volunteered for the rent reporting for credit 
building pilot program and agree to participate in in-depth qualitative 
interviews at up to four time points during the two years that the PHA 
is required to offer the program (n = 40)
    The evaluator will conduct interviews of about 1 hour with staff 
from participating PHAs, organizational partners (e.g., a bank that 
partners with a PHA to set up savings accounts for unbanked residents), 
and PHA residents to better understand facilitators and challenges to 
starting and running the asset building programs. The evaluator will 
interview up to 3 staff per PHA at all 18 PHAs, up to 3 partners at 6 
PHAs selected for in-depth case studies, and up to 8 residents at 4 of 
the case study PHAs.
    Residents participating in the rent reporting programs must 
complete an Informed Consent Form (ICF) and Baseline Information Form 
(BIF). The BIF will provide important information not otherwise 
available from HUD's administrative data, such as whether the household 
has significant barriers to employment. The BIF will take on average 15 
minutes to complete. After enrollment in the program, 40 participants, 
including 20 members of the treatment group and 20 members of the 
control group, will be asked to participate in qualitative interviews 
of about 90 minutes each at two different time points during the first 
year of the rent reporting programs. The qualitative interviews will 
focus on experiences with the rent reporting program, household 
budgeting, and the broader context of interactions with banking, 
credit, and financial institutions. The Federal Register Notice 
provides an opportunity to comment on the data collection instruments 
and associated materials to be administered to the respondents at PHAs 
(including staff and residents) in the Asset Building Cohort and at 
partner organizations.
    Respondents: Adults who work at or are assisted by PHAs 
participating in the Asset Building Cohort.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: Up to 54 PHA staff interviewees; 
up to 18 partner organization staff interviewees; up to 32 resident 
implementation interviewees; up to 300 residents who will complete the 
ICF and BIF for the rent reporting evaluation; up to 40 resident 
qualitative interviewees.
    Estimated Time per Response: The ICF will take .25 hours to 
complete. The BIF will take .25 hours to complete. PHA and partner 
staff interviews will take on average 1 hour. Resident implementation 
interviews will take on average 1 hour. Resident qualitative interviews 
will take on average 1.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Once.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: The estimated annual total 
burden hours equals 125 with estimated cost of $2,400.91. Total burden 
estimates are annualized over a 3-year period, anticipated to run from 
October 2023 to October 2026. The average hourly rate for HUD-assisted 
households ($10.43 or $11.05 depending on the states included in 
calculating the average) is based on the average minimum wage of the 
states the PHAs are located in. Data collection for the implementation 
interviews will occur at all participating PHAs in 14 states; data 
collection for interviews that apply only to rent reporting programs 
will occur in only 6 states. The average hourly rate for PHA staff 
($57.60) is based on the average employer costs for State and Local 
Government employees. The average hourly rate for partner organization 
staff ($42.48) is based on the average employer costs for civilian 
employees. The source of this information is the Bureau of Labor

[[Page 47160]]

Statistics, December 2022 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation.
    Legal Authority: The survey is conducted under Title 12, United 
States Code, Section 1701z.

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                                                             Estimated     Frequency of    Burden hours    Annual burden    Hourly cost
      Information collection             Assumption         respondents      response      per response        hours       per response     Annual cost
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Program Implementation PHA staff    18 PHAs, 3 staff per              54               1               1              18          $57.60       $1,036.80
 interview guide.                    PHA.
Program Implementation partner      6 PHAs, 3 interviews              18               1               1               6           42.48          254.88
 staff interview guide.              per PHA.
Program Implementation resident     4 PHAs, 8 interviews              32               1               1              11           10.43          114.73
 interview guide.                    per PHA.
Rent Reporting Informed Consent     6 PHAs, 25 Treatment             300               1             .25              25           11.05          276.25
 Form.                               and 25 Control
                                     residents per PHA.
Rent Reporting Baseline             6 PHAs, 25 Treatment             300               1             .25              25           11.05          276.25
 Information Form.                   and 25 Control
                                     residents per PHA.
Rent Reporting Qualitative          2 PHAs, 20 families               40               1             1.5              20           11.05          221.00
 Interview Guide 1.                  per PHA.
Rent Reporting Qualitative          2 PHAs, 20 families               40               1             1.5              20           11.05          221.00
 Interview Guide 2.                  per PHA.
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Total burden annualized over 3-year period, anticipated October 2023-October 2026.
The average hourly rate for HUD-assisted households is calculated as follows: (1) For the Program Implementation resident interview guide we averaged
  the minimum wages of all states in the Asset Building Cohort, which includes California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts,
  Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, and South Carolina, and calculate the average hourly minimum wage as $10.43. (2) For the interviews
  that apply only to PHAs in the rent reporting study, we averaged the minimum wages of all states with a PHA in the rent reporting study, which
  includes Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Florida, Illinois, and Idaho, and calculate the average hourly minimum wage as $11.05.
The average hourly rate for PHA staff ($57.60) is based on the average employer costs for State and Local Government employees (Source: Bureau of Labor
  Statistics, December 2022 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation).
The average hourly rate for partner organization staff ($42.48) is based on the average employer costs for civilian employees (Source: Bureau of Labor
  Statistics, December 2022 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation).

    Respondent's Obligation: Participation is voluntary.

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

    This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected parties concerning the collection of information described in 
Section A on the following:
    (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information;
    (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected, and
    (4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond; including through the use of appropriate 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    HUD encourages interested parties to submit comments in response to 
these questions.

C. Authority

    Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
3507.

Kurt G. Usowski,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2023-15485 Filed 7-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P